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LETTER VI. [actually LETTER VII]
LONDON, 27th Nov. 1791.
My Dear Madam,
The Directors have acted so honorable and handsome it was not possible for me to hold out in refusing to return to Sierra
Leona. Besides increasing Falconbridge's salary near three times what it was, they have voted us a sum of money as an equivalent
for the extraordinary services they consider he has rendered them and as a compensation for our private losses of cloaths,
&c.
But surely mortal never was more harrassed than I have been by their importunities. They used every flattering and inticing
argument the ingenious brain of man is capable of, to no purpose; however, tho' all their rhetoric could not persuade me to
revisit Africa, their noble, generous actions have effected it. Mr. Thornton is a good creature, one of the worthiest
men I ever met; he has assured me should any accident happen to Falconbridge, I shall be well provided for by the Company;
he has also, as well as many others of the Directors, made me a profusion of friendly promises and professions, so extravagant
that if they came from any other set of men I should look upon them either as chicanery, or without meaning.
In the next letter Anna Maria will comment further on chicanery. She does not say here how incensed Falconbridge is when
he arrives back in England and finds himself working for a radically changed company. Granville Sharp’s utopian plans
have been abandoned in favor of a commercial venture. Financed by English stockholders, the Sierra Leone Company is expected
to pay for itself and earn a profit from trade.
The Court has granted £50 to be laid out in presents for King Naimbana and his old Queen, and have particularly desired
that I shall purchase those for the latter and present them as from myself by way of enhansing my consequence. They have likewise
granted another sum for me to lay out in such private stores as I may chuse to take with me for our use after we get to Africa;
besides ordering a very handsome supply for the voyage.
A few days ago I only hinted an inclination to visit my friends at Bristol before we left England, and Mr. Thornton said
I should have a Chaise when I liked, and the expence should be defrayed by the Company. Do you not think these are pretty
marks of attention?
We have thoughts of setting out for Bristol in the course of next week, where I figure to myself much of that undescriptionable
[sic] pleasure which lively affectionate minds involuntarily feel upon meeting the bosom friends and sportive companions
of their youthful days, grown to maturity with hearts and countenances neither altered by absence or rusted by corroding time.
But I lament to say this happiness will be of short duration, being obliged quickly to proceed to Falmouth, where we are to
embark on board the Company's ship Amy, for Sierra Leona.
Adieu.
Does Anna Maria feel a certain satisfaction in returning to Bristol with the husband her sisters had disapproved of, who
is now to return to Africa in charge of a large commercial venture?
Five months elapse between LETTERS VI and VII. Unbeknownst to Anna Maria, during that time the directors in London were
expressing reservations about her husband. On 30 December 1791 Chairman Henry Thornton wrote privately to Thomas Clarkson
(another Sierra Leone Company director and brother of John Clarkson, who was to be the first governor of Sierra Leone):
We were at first considerably pleased with him [Falconbridge] and after a few weeks inquiry and deliberation were so far
satisfied as to appoint him chief Commercial Agent at a salary of £250 per annum, adding £100 present also. We discovered
in him however by degrees a great constitutional warmth of temper which has rather alarmed and made us fear, lest with power
in his hands he should be carried to any sudden act of violence—want of punctuality and of regular commercial habit
has also made us think him as unfit for the Leader in a commercial Factory, tho' notwithstanding both these points we are
disposed to think favorably of him in general and we are grateful to him as I am sure we ought to be for the services he has
rendered to the Company. 1
Thomas Clarkson sent his brother, John, who was assembling settlers in Halifax, a more explicit account ("for your own
privacy and conduct") of how the Company intended to treat John's erstwhile campaign comrade and bodyguard (letter dated January
1792).
After telling him that Falconbridge's salary had been raised to £250 a year, he went on, "The Directors however do not
approve his conduct. They consider him hot, rash and impetuous; as likely to involve us in Wars; and as perhaps not over careful
how he offends those united with him in office". They had only sent him back because he had made friends with Naimbana and
Elliot, and it was now for John to try and supplant Falconbridge in their affections:
"As your influence increases, that of Falconbridge will decline. This is in fact what the Company wish: for it would be
a Pity that the noble Objects of our Institution should be hazarded by the Impetuosity and Warmth of Temper of an Individual,
or that we, with so large a Capital, should be wholly at his Mercy.
"The above circumstances will not only render it necessary that you should create the Interest alluded to [i.e. make friends
with Naimbana and Elliot], but that when you make up your mind how long you will stay at Sierra Leone (which you should do
as soon as you can) you should give the Directors the earliest notice of it and not leave the Country till they send a Successor
to you. This is actually necessary, for Falconbridge is the next in Precedence in the Council to you, and in Case of your
leaving Sierra Leone without a Successor from England, he comes directly into the Office of Governor, a thing which of all
things the Company would be most afraid. All their Hopes would be undone by such a Measure". 2
Endnotes:
1. British Library, Clarkson Papers, MS Add.41262A, vol. 1.
2. Fyfe, Anna Maria Falconbridge,
p. 93.
Return to Introduction for Anna Maria's diary
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